The man who brought the world the High School Musical franchise (yeah, cheers for that) and, more recently, Michael Jackson pic This Is It is staying firmly where he's happy and directing a musical adaptation of the musical In The Heights.

Universal has hired him to oversee the film, the rights to which it bought up in 2008. The package included the show's creator Lin-Manuel, who also created the lead role, plus the writer and producers.

If you've never seen it, the plot focuses on three days in the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights where a store owner planning his retirement takes stock of the relationships with his customers and realises he'd be leaving a family behind. So what makes Ortega - who jumped ship on the Footloose remake this year - want to film the Tony-winning musical?

"I told the executives at Universal that they were not going to find a guy who has more of a life connection to that story," Ortega said. "I've seen the show six times on Broadway since it opened, several times when Lin played the lead role. He blew me away with his presence and charisma."

Oh, and his Spanish/Cuban background, for which the show apparently made him nostalgic. He might actually see this one through...